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Forward battle the key for Souths-Cowboys

Ian McCullough

The opening game of the Rugby League World Cup is still more than five months away, but Australia's front-rowers James Tamou and Matt Scott will get the chance to get one up on South Sydney's Burgess brothers on Friday.

The North Queensland front-row pairing have been in outstanding form this season with Scott averaging more than 151 metres per game and Tamou over 141.

Equally impressive have been the English siblings with George, 20, enjoying a break-out year in his first full NRL campaign to put himself in the frame for selection to face the Kangaroos on October 26 in Cardiff.

Older brother Sam, 24, has reinforced his reputation as one of the leading forwards in the world and leads his side in running metres with an average of 138 per game in addition to racking up an average 32.3 tackles.

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Souths top the NRL in metres and linebreaks from the interchange bench largely due to 120kg George logging over 121 metres per game, but the giant bookend is full of admiration for Friday's opponents at ANZ Stadium.

"They are not the starting Australian front-rowers for nothing and are both fantastic players," George Burgess said.

"I am not trying to think about the World Cup but I am looking forward to the experience of playing against them."

Cowboys assistant coach Terry Matterson spent seven years in the Super League coaching Castleford and has been stunned by the progress of George since his move to Australia from Bradford's academy team 18 months ago.

"Credit has to be given to Souths for how they have helped the progression of Sam and George," Matterson told AAP.

"Sam was a bench player for Bradford when he came onto the scene, but there was always a lot of talk about how good he was going to be.

"It's no surprise how well he has done in the NRL.

"But I don't think anyone could have envisaged George being this good in his first full season.

"There's no prop in England playing as well as him, I would be shocked if he wasn't facing Australia in the World Cup.

"But Jimmy and Matty are playing really well at the moment they complement each other so effectively. It's going to be a real interesting battle up front."

Scott is fully expecting a tough forward battle against the Rabbitohs but said he would prefer no one else alongside him in the front row than the New Zealand-born Tamou.

"Souths have got a lot of talent, a lot of skill, they're pretty mobile for such a big forward pack," he said.

"But I can't ask for anyone better to have in the front-row beside me.

"Jimmy has been playing really well. It's handy having someone of his size next to you.

"It usually goes hand-in-hand that if one of us is playing well then the other one is too."